The After Effect
by ska-almighty
Summary: Advent Children. TifaxCloud. After Aerith, Sephiroth, even after the stigma, she loved him but he never returned her feelings. But when Cloud comes back, something's different. Are Tifa's dreams finally coming true? Such angst! Such sadness! So me! R&R pl
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights or the people. Just the thoughts in my head.

So I was watching Advent Children last night and I had goosebumps through out the whole movie. It was awesome! The only problem was it was too short! I needed more! I didn't sleep, things wouldn't stop slamming into my head. Now...I must write or my nose will start bleeding or something o.O Ska-chan.

Chapter One

The door slammed shut. I smile at the fading footsteps of Marlene and Denzel as they make their way back toward the school. There's no threat now. Nothing to worry about. I know Denzel won't pass out from pain today. Marlene won't come home crying. Every thing's normal now. We can get on with our lives. I sighed. Some lives huh? Behind a clean bar the facade fades into a family barely holding on. The children don't know what goes on behind closed doors. They don't know Cloud still says her name in his sleep. Will it ever change? Will he ever say my name instead of hers? Will he ever look forward or will his life always be on rewind? Shaking my head, I looked around for the eighty millionth time. Some life.

The phone rings and I don't even pick up. I just think the same thing I always do. He isn't here anymore and that's not him now. But the phone kept ringing. I put down the glass I was drying. This is ridiculous. I'm ridiculous. I stepped into the back office, pulling the phone from papers strewn across the desk. "Strife deliveries, this is Tifa." I sound cheery enough, writing down an order, dying a little more on the inside. Why do I always get my hopes up? "All right. Have a good morning." I hang up, letting out a breath. It really is back to normal. The family Cloud and I started falls apart more and more every day. I thought after Sephoroth he'd change. Be the Cloud I knew so long ago. But after that day, after so many children were healed, he just stayed there. Cloud didn't come home that night. Or the next. Marlene and Denzel ask about him. I lie and say he's on a delivery. I don't want them to think he doesn't care. They need him in their lives. "You're the only father they've got," I whisper. My fingers brush the picture on the desk. It's the four of us. We're happy. Or at least the children are. That's what really matters right? Cloud and I may never be what I dream about but so long as the kids grow up right, I should be happy.

The bell on the front door rings. I peek my head out. It's Yuffie. She's all smiles so I smile back. "So how's our favorite barkeep today?" she asked as she walks up to the counter. Shrugging, I went out to meet her, give her whatever she came for. Her slender finger comes up as she sits on a stool. I give her the mug I was already filling and she looks at me. "Guess...you haven't seen him in a while, huh?" I only shook my head. "Yeah, you don't look too happy." She reaches across the counter to poke me. A grin breaks out on my face as I try to dodge her ninja fingers. You could say I lost. "Don't worry about Cloud. When he's ready to come home I'm sure he will. If not, we hunt him down and take care of him!"

I rolled my eyes. "RightYuffie. We'll track down the elusive Cloud Strife together and let him have it."

Her brown eyes disappear behind the bottom of her mug for a second. Slamming down the empty mug she winks. "That's only if I'm still around. So let's hope he gets his act together soon." I smile and nod before gesturing to the mug. Yuffie waves her hand. "I gotta go. Just wanted to see how you were." She gets up, dropping her gil on the counter. "Keep the change. I might steal it later." I smile and wave but she's already walking away. This is my life now. Small talk with the people I used to know best. People who knew me better than myself. Never would have guessed.

Returning to the back, I set the beds in the kids' room and moved on to mine. The wind blows hair in my eyes as I smooth my blankets. I didn't remember opening the window. Shrugging it off, I prop the pillow up and sit on my bed, facing Cloud's. I can feel my face twitch as I think about him. It's funny but I can't seem to sleep any more without his lullibye of Aerith's name. Hugging my pillow, I run my memories through all the nights I've spent in that bed. Breathing in his smell, wishing he were mine. Wishing he was home. I fell asleep like that again. Holding my pillow tight, a solitary tear drying on my cheek or soaking into my pillow. I hate waiting.

The kids woke me up. You can tell they were trying to be quiet but after two years of tiny voices, your ears hone in on the noise. Marlene giggled in their room, Denzel told her 'Shh! Tifa'll wake up." I blink, thinking, A little late guys. "Do you think she'll be happy?" he whispers.

"What are you two up to?" I call out. Marlene giggles again. Little feet scamper across hard wood and the bell on the door rings again. Shaking my head I get up. I smoothed my hair down, going up to the front. I stopped in the door way. Cloud turned from the window to smile at me, the children already playing outside with thier friends. He came behind the counter, his blue eyes were warmer than usual, saying "Hi."

"Hi."

"We woke you up?" I smile and shrug. He nods, moving closer to me. "How have you been?" I shrug and look away. I don't want him here. I don't want him so close to me, looking so warm and right. He puts a gloved hand on my arm, covering the the red ribbon tied there. It's the closest we'll probably ever be to being a real family. It means we're there for each other, we'll take care of each other and protect our family. I touch his and smile sadly. "Tifa.."

"We got a call for a delivery this morning," I cut in. I'm almost afraid of what might come out of his mouth. "It's not far, outskirt of town. Needs to be picked up tomarrow." I go past him, into the office to hand him the slip of paper. He takes it, studies it, puts it in a pocket. I tried not to look at him, staring at the filtered sunlight, dim yellow from the curtains.

"Tifa," he says again. I know I'm stronger than I felt right then. I guess it's just after you've dealt with loving some one who doesn't know if they love you year after year after year, it starts chipping away at you. Maybe this last like chip pulled off more than it should. His hand returns to the thin ribbon on my arm. I can't hide the shudder. "I had to find what I was looking for before I could do this. When I made our promise, I was still restless and I needed answers. What happened a few days ago let me see the answers were right infront of my eyes. I'm home now." I broke down in tears.

Chapter One complete. I have to go watch Advent children again now. Excuse me. Oh! Please review! I always appreciate it! Ska-chan. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own rights but I do own the movie drools

Except if I were drooling that would be gross.

Chapter Two

Cloud pulls me into him, running his fingers through my hair, whispering "It's okay. I'm here now." I'm making a fool of myself. I never wanted to cry in front of him. And now I'm crying not only in front of him but on him. Tears soak into the corded fabric of his shirt, making it darker. He just holds me. Tells me it's okay. My fists clench on either side of my face as I try to get control of myself. "I promised you I'd take care of you and the children. I'm keeping that promise Tifa."

I try to even out my breathing, choking out, "Really?" I look up at him and he blinks for a minute. Cloud looks at me with an odd expression as if he's seeing some one he didn't expect to see again. And then he nods, wiping my cheek with his thumb and kisses me. It surprised me at first. It almost never happens. It was soft, gentle, loving. My hand slides up his chest behind his neck, not wanting him to pull away. He doesn't even try. His finger tips touch each other behind my back, keeping me close. He takes a step toward the door, bringing me with him. We take stumbling steps out into the hall, make our way to our room. He twirls me as I kick the door shut. Another shuffle of our feet and I'm on his bed, he's pushing me down. His lips break away from mine, I gasp for breath. His hands move to my hips. Blue eyes search brown ones, looking for something. Cloud kisses me again and the grip he has on my hips gets tighter for a second. And suddenly one is sliding between my legs while the other runs up and under my back again. I let his knee part mine, give him the access his eyes are begging for. His blond head buries itself in my neck, unable to take all that's happening. My own hands are grabbing his shoulders and arms. The ribbon around Cloud's left arm is tight as he tries to restrain himself. Tries to take it slow. "Cloud," I whisper. Breathing becomes a chore as hands move faster. "Cloud." My voice is getting louder. He nods against me, moving his other leg between mine.

There's a zipping noise and Cloud looks up at me. Strands of his hair stick to his forehead, his eyes are a little bloodshot. "Tifa," he breathes, "I need you to know-" The bell above the front door rings. Cloud's eyes become a little panicked before he takes a deep breath and rolls off me. "Should I go see who it is?" He does his pants up again and leans on his elbows.

"No," I say, "let me." With a deep breath, I run my fingers through my hair and feel my cheeks. Marlene is already behind the counter making her way to find us. "Hey, I thought you were outside playing? Where's Denzel?" My face still feels overly warm. Does she know about that? Can she tell? What am I thinking? She's eight. She smiles, touches my arm.

"It started raining and I didn't want to be outside anymore. Denzel's still playing though." She paused. "Is Cloud still here?" Her voice was hopeful. I nodded. "Can I see him?" I shake my head, smiling. "Please Tifa?"

"He's sleeping now, Sweetie." Looking out the large window in the front, I say, "Look. It's stopped raining." Marlene looked out but didn't seem interested. I get the gil Yuffie had given me earlier and hand it to her. "Go find Denzel and buy something sweet for yourselves, okay?" Her smile becomes a silly grin and she rushes to the door. "Marlene?" She looks over her shoulder at me and her grin gets bigger. "Be careful okay?" Nodding vigorously, she ran out the door, calling for Denzel. Cloud's hands run up my arms. "It'll be dark soon. They'll expect dinner." His head rubs against mine as he nods and crushes me against him. Maybe he has changed. I smiled to myself, feeling a renewed security in our family.

Cloud makes sure the sign on the window says closed before following me to the kitchen. I pull left overs from the fridge, dumping them into pots that are quickly heating up. His eyes are on me through the entire process. You can feel a change in him as he watches me stir a sauce and fry noodles. It made me get all warm inside and out. My cheeks got pinker. He asks,"They won't be home for another half hour, will they?"

I glance over at him, his eyes dart to a window. The sunshine is fading, leaving a cool darkness in it's wake. I joke, "I wouldn't have to tell you if you were home once in a while." Cloud's perpetually slanted eyebrows go down even further, his gaze at the outside intensified. After another minute of awkward silence I chime, "But you are now and that's what counts, right? I'm sure you'll remember their habits soon enough." I smile to him but he just looks at me. It's still uncomfortable. I go back to warming up food. Cloud sighs. His boots thunk on the hard floor as he starts walking away. It only took a second to think, And there he goes again. Walking out of our lives. I shook my head at the thought. "No," I whisper to myself. "He's home now. He promised."

The kids came home later than I expected. They washed their hands and faces, collapsed on the chairs at the table and crammed re-reheated noodles into their mouths. The only time they weren't eating was only because they were asking Cloud questions. Marlene wanted to know where he'd been, why he wasn't home. Denzel would only ask small simple things. He answered them of course but I had to wonder. How many times had he lied to them about why and where he had gone? How many times did he think in his head it's better to not tell them the truth? Tell me the truth? I almost stopped paying attention then.

Cloud tucked them and read a book to them while I took care of dishes. When I got back from locking all the doors and closing most of the windows, he was looking at all the drawings on the walls in our rooms. "I don't remember this one," he whispers. He's pointing to the picture above our 'portraits.' It's a big sheet of paper Marlene and Denzel drew all over while Cloud and I reunited with the gang. Cloud and I are positioned close together, me smiling, him with slanted eyebrows, in the center of the picture. Marlene is by my hip and Denzel is in front of Cloud. Surrounding us is Yuffie and Barret, Vincent and Red XIII, who's really a blurry red dog thing, and Cid and Cait Sith. Considering they barely saw all these people, each unique in every way possible, before going to bed, the drawing is extremely accurate. Well, aside from being out of the lines. "Who drew it?"

I reply, "They both did. They think it's amazing what we can do when we come together. Denzel runs around with sticks down his shirt most days now. He really looks up to you, Cloud." He barely even nods. Cloud gives me something of a fleeting glance. I don't know what to make of it. Should I have ignored it? Was he trying to say something he could not? Or am I just thinking about it too much? My hand goes out to him, I hesitate. Is this a bad idea? Will he run from me again? Finger tips brush mine before interlocking. I blink, a little confused and look down at Cloud's now bare fingers holding my palm to his. I'm pulled in closer to him.

It's weird, I'm almost scared of him. This isn't like him. He doesn't do this. What about Aerith? The back of my legs hit his bed, he's above me again. I don't know what I want anymore. I've waited for so long but something's off. This isn't him. He doesn't move this fast. But what's fast when it's been years? My body is telling my head to shut up and give Cloud a hand. My shorts I'm kicking off my ankles, thinking, Oh man, he can see my underwear. Not like it matters, he's already between my legs and about to hit a home run. I haven't even realized that my underwear went off with my jeans yet. His hands move to my chest, unzipping my vest and sliding under my tank top. "God," he whispers. There's another sound of a zipper but it's him this time. for the first time I feel him. He's pressed against me, waiting for something. All I want is for him to go for it. Or should I stop this?

He starts pressing in. I whisper, "Cloud?" He moans a reply. "Don't let Aerith in if you do this. Don't think I'm her."

His heads against my shoulder but I can't feel his warm breath. His hand holds my breast, I wait. I start wondering how long he can hold off on breathing when a light puff of warm air touches me. "Tifa," he says, "the only people in this room right now are you. And me." I couldn't help but gasp as our hips touch and he begins to pour his energy into me.

I'm scandalous I knoe. But you read it anyway so I don't want to hear it! Yeah right. Of course I wanna hear it! Leave a me a review! I knoe you have some thing to say! Ska chan. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own it but if I did. Uh...that would be cool. 

_I don't knoe why, but when I posted the last two chapters, anything I put in italics came out in a normal font. Oh well. If that messed you up at all, I'm sorry. And to every one that's left a review thank you! I appreciate it. I checked the stats on this this morning. Over two **hundred** people hit the link since last night. I was amazed! Or maybe it was just one really bored person? Thank you guys, I really mean it. Ska-chan keeps writing...NOW!_

Chapter Three

I couldn't help but wonder if this was wrong. I mean for all of my love for him and my happiness with him, it still didn't feel right. Cloud's fingers twitched on my collar bone. You can't even see his arm between my boobs. I can't help but smile at that. Our bodies are molded into each other, him behind me, not saying a word. I guess it makes sense. Most people don't say anything when they're asleep. Doesn't even whisper Aerith's name. I feel bad about it but...it made me happy. We stayed there in the dark. I couldn't sleep. Maybe it was because a million things were flying through my head. Maybe it was because only my hips and legs were covered and the rest of me was kind of cold. The sun would be rising in a few hours. I just couldn't sleep. "Cloud?" I test.

The arm around my waist and the one hidden between me presses me harder against Cloud. His entire body tightens like a coil around me, refusing to let me go. Not that I wanted to. "What's wrong?" he whispers. I wish I could see his face. Touch it, make sure it's still him, he's still here. "Tifa?"

"You're really staying?" Cloud takes his hand off my waist, leaving a new cold spot. He pulls it out from under me before removing himself from me completely. It upsets me a little. I get scared, thinking I said something I shouldn't have. I should have been quiet. He's by the window now, pushing back the curtains to let the moon show through. Its pale rays reflect off his smooth skin as he walks to the door and listens for any one awake. My heart crumbles more and more with his every silent step. I close my eyes wishing I knew what to do and start rolling onto my back because of Cloud. He collapsed on top of me, bringing the blanket up around us. "Can we stay like this forever?" I whisper after a second.

He kisses me again. Says I need to be sleeping. I know he's right. We have lives that need keeping. Children that need to be tended to. Deliveries to be made. I don't worry about that though. I only think if I fall asleep he'll disappear. I'll wake up all by myself again. Which I did. But he coxed me into a slumber anyway. I don't think even the kids could have woken me.

I rubbed my eye, seeing sunlight and knew it was over. Cloud wasn't next to me. Marlene and Denzel were already at school. I sat up and looked at the clock. 9:52 am. "Damn." Finding my tank top and shorts, I walked out to the bathroom, still pulling them on. Went through the basic morning routine. Hair goes up in a clip, teeth are brushed, make a face at the mirror. _Now all I need is to get a glass of juice from the fridge, check messages and open the bar._ There were no messages though. No worries. I flipped the sign in the front to Open, Denzel had left the door unlocked. Don't know why I wiped down the bar. It was still clean. And then I waited. And waited. For what? I don't know. I just waited for something to happen. Anything to happen. A few people come in, some regulars that just want to start their day drunk, some I've never even seen before. Not like it matters, every one gets served just the same.

Nothing will happen today. It's Thursday and it's not even noon. People start filtering out. I shut the drawer on the register, say "Have a nice day!" to some one who doesn't give a damn and sigh. I finish getting ready for the day. Life used to be so eventful. I used to travel everywhere. I mean, yeah, it was because I was tracking down a certain super villain who wanted to kill everything ever created but at least I was really doing something. Now I just have to sit here, wait and act like I'm content with life. _Is this what Cloud felt like? Is this why he would never be home? Because he was...restless?_ _Am I ever going to find peace in my heart? Or will I live out the rest of my days behind a counter regretting my choice to stay here?_

The phone's ringing in the office. I go back there, pick it up, wish I hadn't. It's one of Denzel's teachers. He got in a fight with another boy during lunch. The other boy's eye is quickly swelling and nearing purple. "Do I need to come in?" She answers no. Tells me why it happened. "All right. I'll talk to him when he comes home. Thank you." I can't help but think we're bad parents. _We're not even real parents. Hmph, we're not even together._ Life goes on as usual. Noon hits, more people come in. I serve them, laugh with them. I take their money and they leave. _If I were to just get up and leave would they even notice?_ I shake my head. _Don't think like that. Don't be stupid._

Another half hour goes by, no one even comes in. I flip the sign by the door for my self appointed lunch break. I don't even eat lunch. Maybe I'm just having a bad day. I'd say maybe I woke up on the wrong side of the bed but it's not like it was my bed I woke up in. Bed becomes the only thing I can think of so I do the logical thing. Go to it. A heavy breath escapes me as I put the alarm on and fall onto it. For a while it's just staring at the ceiling. Then my lids get heavy, I stop swinging my feet.

The alarm never went off. I got up around 2. Cloud's watching me. I don't know how long he's been there. I jumped when I saw him. "Cloud?" He smiles. I sit up. It feels like all I ever do is work and sleep._ I need to get out more._ I confess, "I didn't think you'd be home any time soon."

He shrugs. "I told you I'm here now didn't I?"

"Yeah. Guess I just wasn't sure if you meant it." He laughs. I love it when he laughs. It's only for a second before he goes back to watching me. I take my hair down and finger comb it. I don't know what to do since he's watching me. "So where did you go?" I finally ask.

"I had a few deliveries to make."

"But it was just the one?" I pause. "You checked the messages, huh?" He nods. "Yeah..." I still don't know what to do. The kids will be home in an hour but until then? "I guess I should open the bar back up." Not like it matters.

I get up and start to walk past him but he stops me. He stands, looks at me for a second, reads my emotions I guess. "Don't reopen the bar just yet. Let's get out for a while." When I start to protest he continues with, "Come on, Tifa. We'll take Marlene and Denzel out early and get out of the city for a while. You look like you need it." My cheeks get warmer as I blush. He's probably right. I nod with a smile. Cloud pecks me on the cheek, my smile gets bigger. Still holding my hand, he leads me out the door. As I lock it, he says, "Besides, I have something I need to tell you."

_So maybe the italics worked this time? Let's hope so. I find it helpful. I'm still amazed that so many people are into my story. YOU GUYS MAKE ME SO DAMN HAPPY! Hehe, sorry. So it's my mom's birthday so I might not get to write chapter four today but you never knoe. I'll update soon I promise! Ska-chan._


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own blah blah blah**

_So here I am writing, Go me! And I just check checked all my mail and stats and go me again! I'm so happy! People like what I'm writing! Sobs openly_

**Chapter Four**

The kids were thrilled when Cloud and I showed up with a heavy basket and told them we were headed out of the city. They seemed to have jumped through the entire trip out. It was crazy. As we reached the outskirts of town, Cloud readjusts his sword. Denzel noticed him doing it and grabbed the first big stick he could find.Marlene and I laugh when he swings it and smacks himself on the forehead. _That reminds me. _I stepped closer to Cloud whispering, "Denzel got in a fight today." He shakes his head. "Gave the other kid a black eye. I don't know whether to congratulate him or discipline him."

"Why did he get in a fight?"

I look down at the dirt. "Because the other boy was picking on him for being orphaned." It hurts to say that. In my mind, those two aren't orphaned. Sure we might not be their biological parents but blood isn't everything. We can still be 'Momma' and 'Papa' without actually conceiving them, right? Cloud strokes my hair before hugging me. Let's me know he understands. My ears lose track of one of the kid's footsteps. I look around and it's Marlene, now a step or two behind, grinning like a fool. I reach out for her, pulling her along with us. "What are you looking at?" I bite playfully. She just laughs.

This has really turned my day around. We found a nice spot to throw our stuff and for a long time, Cloud teaches Denzel how to wield his stick properly. Marlene and I laugh and criticize them. Cloud threatens us. Everything seems right outside of the city. It's just nice to be in the sand and dust rather than city pollution. Marlene goes to find wild flowers and Cloud falls beside me. Denzel's stick is at his throat. He smiles and knocks it to the side with his hand but the stick glides back to center. "So you got me," Cloud jokes. "But it's only because I let you win."

Denzel shouts, "No! You were too busy looking at Tifa!" My eyebrows shot up as Cloud's cheeks shot straight to red. "Um...I'm gonna go protect Marlene. There might be monsters lurking around here." His little eyes dart from side to side looking for pretend fiends before he runs off to find his sister.

"So what was that about you losing?" I giggle to Cloud.

His cheeks start toward pink again as he says, "I didn't lose I let him win."

"That's not what Denzel says," I chime.Cloud mutters 'Crummy kid' under his breath and I laugh. He smiles sheepishly before setting his gaze to the dust around us. "Hey Cloud?" He looks up at me again with content blue eyes. It makes me happy thinking that this might actually be where he wants to stay. "You said you needed to tell me something before we left. What was it?"

He looks away from me again. His eyebrows furrow as he thinks. I get a bad feeling in my gut. Am I going to want to hear this? Or will this only hurt me, kill my spirit a little more? He's still looking off into the distance, thinking. _Maybe he doesn't know how to say it. Maybe he's just forgotten. He could have decided it was irrelevant. _"Tifa," he whispers, "I think she's still alive."

Tears spring to my eyes. I thought it was over. I thought she was just a memory. I breathe out, "Cloud." He looks over to me. His expression changes a little when he sees my welling eyes. "No. No. Cloud, she's gone. She died. Sephiroth killed her remember?"

He shakes his head. "Of course I remember. But Tifa I saw her. When all those children were healed I saw her. She was in church with us!"

My body curls into itself. My hands are on my forehead. I felt so used. "Cloud you couldn't have seen her. We gave her back to the life stream. She's gone! She wasn't there. She's been dead for years now Cloud. Please," I whispered, "just let her go."

"Tifa I saw her!" he exclaims, sitting up. "She was right there. All I had to do was get out of that pool and touch her. She was real. She's in the city somewhere. I'm sure of-"

"Cloud! She's dead!" I yell. "She isn't coming back! She can't! Aerith is dead and will remain dead until the end of the world! She's not in the city. She's not Kalm, she's not picking bloody flowers in a field somewhere, she's not anywhere because she died! I'm sorry but it's the truth." I pause. "Cloud, please."

"No Tifa. She's here. I'm going to find her. I'll show you she's real. Then even you will see she's still alive." I'm shaking my head, trying not to cry. He's getting up. Dusting off his pants, he walks away from me, leaving me with my own hatred and depression. I should have known. It was so obvious. _And yet you still threw yourself at him. _My whole body clenches as tears begin streaking down my face. _There's nothing I can do. There's no way I can make him see reality. _

I just sat there for what felt like a life time and cried. And when I couldn't cry anything else out and wiped my face, I some how managed to find more liquid to pour out of my face. Marlene's small hand touched my back. "Tifa?" I take a shuddering breath, clean my face off again but I don't look at her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing Sweetie. I'm fine."

"I made this for you." She shows me her hands. There's a flower chain spread across her small fingers, the pinks and oranges match the flower chain in her hair. It was really bad timing on her part to be giving me flowers. Right now I can't stand to even think about the plants. But I take it from her anyway. Put it in my hair too and smile. She smiles too, hugging me. "Don't cry Tifa. It makes us sad." She thinks for a second. "Besides, Cloud's here now. You don't have to cry anymore."

"I know. It's just...hard sometimes. You'll understand when you're older."

Marlene gasps. "Cloud's not leaving again is he?"

"Don't worry about it. That's my job." It's crazy to think about how mature Marlene is. I mean, she's only nine but she acts so grown up. I rub her back and start to get up. "Come on, the sun's going to go down soon. We should get home before all the monsters come out." She giggles and nods, taking my hand, pulling me up. "You hungry?" She shakes her head. I nod, call out for the boys. Cloud's a little upset at me for trying to crush his hopes. I'm pissed at him. _We really just need to talk this out. Maybe he'll listen next time. _The entire trip home was just sad. I pretended to be happy and laugh with the children when they were silly but aside from that, the only thing I really saw was dirt on my boots. We got home just as the sun was disappearing behind the sky scrapers. I went straight to our room, collapsed on my bed and cried.

_Never eat mostly raw pancake batter and m&ms. It doesn't taste too good and it's hot! Learn from my mistakes. Leave me some reviews. I love to read them! And I knoe. I'm a horrible wretched person for my plots. I can never let people be happy together. It's just not a good plot without sadness. Ska-chan._


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own crap. And I'm glad for that. Smells bad, ya knoe?**

_So here's the deal guys. My Internet is really screwy. If I can't update it's for a few reasons. I'm really sorry. Please bare with me._

**Chapter Five**

How can you make some one see truth? Do you need evidence? Do you just need to hit them until they can accept it? Talk to them and tell them it's all lies, expecting them to understand? But what if they don't? What if they won't listen to you? Run from you and all you can do is go after them and try to protect them from their own illusions? _How can Cloud see what's real and what's false anymore? _I tried not to cry. I tried really hard. For the most part I did a good job. Puddled up really bad, had a hard time breathing. _What am I suppose to do?_

I looked around the kitchen for what must have been the ninetieth _million _time. Don't know why. It's still the kitchen. There's still a pot in the sink and junk on the counter. Something burnt is still clinging to the stove top no matter how hard I try to get it off. I smirk. _Maybe that's it. Aerith really cared about how things looked. Always made it...nice. Hmph. It's like some one made a doll and brought it to life. She was too damn perfect. Always smiling and shit. _I squint off into the distance. _Did she ever show any _other _emotion? God. Even when she was killed she was smiling. _I shook my head. I shouldn't be thinking this. It's not right. What if she comes back from the dead for the sole purpose to haunt and kill me for thinking poorly of her? _Yeah but Cloud already thinks that. Maybe she will come for me after all. Talking badly, sleeping with her ex._

Cloud's putting the kids to bed again. They like having him around. Should I tell them he's leaving again? _That's he's gone crazy? _Yeah 'cause that would be easy to explain. Marlene and Denzel just sitting there eating breakfast or some crap. I'm wiping down the counter. One of them asks where Cloud is. "Oh yeah, he's gone. Cloud left to go find a dead woman cause he's gone insane and thinks she's still alive." They'll understand without any problem what so ever. Not. I can't believe he would screw me and _then _tell me this. I knew something was wrong but how could I have guessed this?

"He's alive too, you know." I jumped. Cloud is leaning against the doorway. How long he had been there, I don't know. "Zack is with her. He was there too. In the doorway, waiting for Aerith. If I find her, he should be there too." I look down, shaking my head. "Tifa, I saw them! How can you not believe me? Help me. We can find them together." He walks over to me, puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Cloud stop. Please. Just stop. You're sick. You need help."

"I know I need help. That's why I'm asking you. This city's too big for me to find one person on my own."

I smacked his hand away from me. "That isn't what I mean! Cloud! You accepted the fact that she was gone! You saw it happen. You avenged her death. It's over. She's in peace somewhere else. Let it go. Please. For me. Let it go," I whispered. My head fell into my hands.

"Of all people I thought you would understand. It's why I told you. I really thought you would belie-"

"Shut up already!" The chair I was on flies out behind me as I jump to my feet. "I don't want to hear your bullshit! Zack is gone. He's been gone forever and I don't need people reminding me of everything that happened! Aerith is gone and she's probably happy where ever the fuck she is!" I scream. "What the hell happened to you? You were all right. Why the hell did you come back here? Just yesterday everything was fucking peachy with you. You were normal, hell, you were sweet! You- you fucked me! After all these fucking years you fuck me and then tell me you're looking for Aerith? What the hell!"

My knees finally give in. I crouch on the floor, trying once again not to cry. "Tifa..." Cloud whispers.

"Go," I whisper back. "Just...go. Do what ever it is you plan on doing to find zombie Aerith and don't come back here. Don't you fucking come back here." I hear his sigh, his boots thumping on the floor. The bell on the front door rings. He left. I shouldn't be so upset he left. He's always leaving. _But what if he really doesn't come back in the end? What if he seriously listened to me? _l look up at the empty kitchen. _What if he does something stupid? Or gets hurt? _My eyes got really wide. _Killed? _I ran to the door. You could hear his bike fire up. My legs pump faster. It's amazing how when something is really important to you just running through a tiny bar seems like forever. By the time I slammed the door open, his tail lights were only little red dots. "Cloud!" I scream. "Cloud!" It was pointless. He was gone.

Sobbing, I turned back inside. The door closes. I lock it, put my back against it, slide down on the floor. I'm not censoring my tears anymore. They're just gushing down my face like I had a fire hydrant explode out my eyes. When there's nothing left to drip out, I open my eyes. Marlene's coming. I guess she was just waiting for me to finish before she came out. By the sound of shuffling feet, Denzel's right behind her. They peer around the bar counter. I wipe my face on the back of my hand and try to smile. "Tifa?" Denzel calls.

"It's okay, kiddo. You two can come over. I won't bite." Denzel walks over to me, Marlene pauses to grab a clean hand towel before coming over. She hands it to me sadly. "Thank you," I say.

"What happened Momma? Where's Cloud?" Denzel asks.

Marlene echoes, "Where'd Cloud go?"

In my head I smile, seeing my own little prophecy come together. "He...it's complicated. Cloud..Cloud is a little sick right now."

Marlene gasped. "Does he still have the stigma?" I shake my head and she nods.

"It's not that kind of sick. Things are a little fuzzy in his head. He can't think right." I pause. "You guys understand?"

"He's crazy?" Denzel whispers.

"You could say that. He thinks one of our old friends is here in the city but she isn't. She doesn't live here anymore."

"Does he miss her? Is that why he left?"

"Yeah. He's gonna go find her." I sigh and it comes out shaky. "Look, you two have school in the morning. You need to go back to sleep." They nod slowly. Begin to shuffle away. Marlene stops and hands me her doll.

"She always makes me happy when I'm sad. Maybe she'll do the same for you." Tears well up in my eyes again as I nod and take it from her. _She's so damn sweet. _I look down at the cloth doll. At her long yarn hair and the little pink sun dress she's wrapped in. I pull the hair back into a pony tail and think of Aerith. My hand clenches on the hair. I let it go and it falls in her face. Looking up I think, _This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever thought of but what if.._

_And that's the end! Now you have to wait til I put more down and stuff like that. Gimme reviews guys! And please don't hate me because it's been too damn long since I updated! Ska._


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or the characters in it.**

_I got a review i got lots of reviews actually. yay! that said ch. 5 had some typos. Thank you, I took care of them. Also, thanks for understanding my technical difficulty. I'm trying, you're waiting. It's great. I'm gonna write now. I can't think of anything to say anyway._

**Chapter Six**

"How can you possibly even _hope _this is gonna work?"

"Yuffie, there's nothing else I can do. I'd like to see you come up with a better idea." She hands me a brush. "Thank you."

"We should just track him down and beat him up!"

"Didn't you say that earlier?"

She looks at the glowing orb in her hand. "I still agree with myself. There's no bad side."

I roll my eyes, watching my hair separate and come together again as I pull the brush through in the mirror. "I don't want to hurt him. That won't make things better. Then he might become paranoid along with crazy. See the down fall?"

"Who's gonna watch the kids while we're working?"

"Marlene is Barret's and it wouldn't kill him to spend some time with her. It's not like he ever sees her anyway." I sit in front of Yuffie, who sighs and puts the materia in her pocket. Cracking her knuckles she starts moving lockes of hair. "I already called him, he said he'd be happy to take care of Denzel for a few days too." Yuffie's reflection nods. Her fingers run through my hair as she parts it and twists it. She grabs a bottle and squirts out a pile of clear goop. It makes a sucking noise as she quickly rubs it all over her hands and smears it over my hair. I make a face at its weird smell. I never did like hair products.

"So what made you think this one up?"

"A few things actually." With a smirk, I say, "You remember when I got kidnapped?" She nods. "And Cloud went in after me, all dolled up?"

She laughs out, "I still can't believe he was willing to strap on the bra! Watching him walk in there was one of the saddest yet funniest things I've ever seen in my life." Her hands stop. "He didn't look too bad as a girl..." I elbow her and she giggles. "So that's why you think this will work? Because he could pretend to be a girl and rescue you, you can pretend to be some one else and make him better?" She paused. "Do you even own a dress?"

"Yes! Thank you!"

"Just checkin'." My eyes close as her hands go back to work. She tugs and straightens. My head bobs around. In my mind, I'm trying to see myself as her. Trying to see everything he loved about her. See the things that made her her. _When I find him...what will I do? Will I be horrible and mean, say things to make him hate her and want to forget all about her? But then he would only come back out of self pity and wanting to be loved. If he even comes back at all. Should I just tell him to move on and be happy with the family he started? Tell him that I love him and that I'm worried about him. That she doesn't need his protection anymore and she's past him now anyway? "_Is this even going to work?" I breathe.

"He might just hate you for this. Maybe he isn't crazy enough to not tell the difference. He'll just hate you for what you've done and never ever come back."

"You seem awfully cheery about that," I say, opening my eyes to scowl at her.

"Tifa, generally, I'm not the type to go to about relationships. I don't have the right kind of outlook for it. It's just that I think you and Denzel would be a lot better off without him."

"Just like I think Cloud and I would be a lot better off without Aerith?"

"Yeah but Aerith isn't even here." I take a heavy breath. There's nothing I can do. This is a battle I cannot afford to lose. Especially not to some one dead. Then I would hate her, Cloud _and _me. I don't think I could handle that. "This whole thing is screwed up. Don't you ever wish you could just have a normal life?"

I don't even hesitate to say, "Hell no! If I had a normal life then every day would be the same, I would have never met you guys and I would never have had the chance to fight and win against some of the most horrible stuff ever created. I love my life." I take a breath. "Just not my love life." Yuffie laughs, holding a hand out. I give her a pony tail and she ties it around the bottom of my hair. She takes the sash over my shoulder and ties it in a big bow. Patting my shoulder, she leaves the bathroom and shuts the door.

A dress swing on a hook attached to the back of the door. I look at it. It was a long time ago that I had gotten it. Similar to Aerith's with all of it's pinkness, it's corseted on the bust with wider straps. I had stayed up all of the night before slitting its front open and stitching in a new hem and buttons. Goosebumps race across my skin as my clothes hit the floor and I slowly button up some of the buttons. The dress is tighter than I remember it being. Guess it had something to do with the hem. I feel like my boobs are popping out. _And she dressed like this everyday? I feel like a whore. _I wedge some chunky metal bracelets on and pull on a cropped jacket. Looking at myself in the mirror, I want to cry. In my eyes, I look like her but warped. Like she's taking over my body and using it for her own. The big curls on my collar bones, my bangs look like a puppy ears when they don't stand up all the way. I feel damn stupid. And that bow is _not _helping.

I open the door cautiously and peek my head out. Yuffie raises an eyebrow impatiently. "Well?"

"I feel ridiculous."

"You said it was ridiculous when you called. Just let me see!"

I open the door all the way and she makes a face. "W-what do you think? Will it work?"

"It's so weird!" I can feel my eyes get wide. "If your hair were lighter and your boobs were so big, I would think she had a copy cat sister."

"What does that mean? Do you think I can do this or not?"

She nods. "You'll have to be in a dark area, but it just might work."

"I can work with that." I turn for the front door. Yuffie puts a hand on my arm. I look down at it, seeing the red ribbon still tied there. She sticks her fingers under it and hoists it up so it can't be seen. My hand touches my neck, feeling the thin strip of cloth I had tied there earlier. _Please let this work. _

"You sure you can do this?" I nod. "You have no idea what he might say. Are you going to be able to handle what ever comes out?" My eyebrow twitches. "This might be the end of you."

"I know. I have to do this though, Yuffie. I have no choice."

She gives me a nod. "Then let's go."

_All done! Finished in a whole...two maybe three hours? Lots of talking. So now you understand her idea and if you don't then...um...you may need help. But yeah. I'm gonna work on ch. 7 now. Later kids. Ska._


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I love everybody! But that doesn't mean I own them.**

_This one goes straight to The Rouge Stallion: I would accept your proposal if I weren't already taken as well and living in Zimbabwe. I don't really live there though. It's just more interesting than saying Oxford. But I'll keep that in mind should my samurai ever die suddenly. O.O Heehee I'm writing now._

_I'm not that twisted am I? _

**Chapter Seven**

The question I should have been asking myself before I thought about how to make Cloud understand would have been where he's going to look. When did he 'see' her first? He said the church. That makes sense. _What am I talking about? That doesn't make sense! He didn't see her, you dumb ass. _I look down at the cracked pavement. _That's true. _It's awfully annoying running in a dress like this. I don't see how the hell Aerith did it. I can barely breathe for God's sake. Even though I only button the bare minimum on the dress, the skirt part keep bunching between my legs and it's making me stumble. Every two seconds I have to pull it out again. It's pretty damn pointless to own a dress like this unless your only goal in life is to look hot. _Or like a whore. I gotta stop thinking like this. I have to step into her role. I need to act innocent. _I smirked, jumping a puddle. _Cause she's innocent. Yeah.. _

Yuffie and I split ways a while ago. This city's just too big for us to stick together. She'll search her side till she comes to the outskirts and then she'll probably go to Kalm. Me, I'm searching till I reach the end too, then I'm going to her burial site. The Forgotten City. I can't help but think how many drunken bums are on the streets tonight, staring up at forever cloudy sky, trying to remember what stars look like. How many of them have looked up and seen me streak across the roof tops? Who's called me a fairy? Or an illusion? _Angel like Aerith? _I laugh thinking about how many men have seen my underwear.

I run my hands over my hair, making sure everything hasn't fallen out. It crunches under my finger tips. I think Yuffie went a little over board on the gel. Retighten the bow as I sprint across a building. Trip on my damn dress. I feel like I'm getting no where. My phone rings. The caller I.D. says it's private. "Hello?" I pant.

"I heard you were looking for Cloud."

"Vincent?"

"Yes. If you're heading to the Forgotten City, he's still here."

"Are you close by? Can you stall him?" It gets staticky as I drop to a lower building. "Vincent?"

"We'll see what happens." After that comes that little click older phones make. _Since when does he have a phone? How the hell did he get my number? _Shrugging it off I keep going, slowly making a left. I don't know how I'm going to get there yet but I have to before he leaves. Vincent isn't exactly helpful trying to stall some one. Not exactly talkative. _But maybe Cloud will confide in him too. Maybe he'll think Vincent will understand. _That's weird to think about.

After that it was pretty much straight to the city. I kind of like it there and I don't. The whole place is very beautiful to me and its iridescent glow is creepily comforting. Everything feels almost comfortably strange. And you're probably wondering why I would say I don't like it after saying it's beautiful and comfortable. Well, you did hear me say creepy, right? It is. Everything is just so quiet you could hear a pin drop sometimes. On dirt. Or grass maybe. Well, you get the point. And the rivers and creeks freak me out. I don't like looking at them, being in them, going near them. It's childish to think this way but I'm scared I'll see Aerith's skeleton down there or her skull'll come floating by. That would be damn nasty! But yeah...

I stood at the water's edge. Thought about Cloud letting Aerith go back to the life stream. Thought about when Denzel stepped into the very same water and got temporarily 'healed'. Was it by her he was healed? Or just that this water is so close to the life stream. That, I think, makes a little more sense. You can see my reflection in almost still water. To me it's like everything I just said. It's like I'm looking at her down there. As if she had been preserved in the silt and water. Like it never let her go. _Maybe she is a doll after all? _I touch my face. _And now I am too. _"Why didn't you tell me before I got here?" I whisper. Vincent's somewhere I can't see him but I know he hears me.

"I had borrowed his phone. I can't warn you from a phone I don't have."

I look around, trying to find him while talking to him. "Couldn't you have just called me before he left? Would he really have told you no to that?"

"Would have been suspicious." I can't find him. I give up. "Do you really think this is going to work?" I look down at my reflection again. More like her reflection really. "He may have gone mad but even mad people can see the difference in things. Especially if it's the thing they lost their mind too."

"What else is there to do? What choice do I have?" I reply sadly.

"You could just give him up and move on. Don't worry about him anymore."

"But I love him, Vincent. You have to understand."

The trees barely rustle as he moves somewhere else. I shouldn't have said that. He's probably thinking about his wife and how he had coped with her passing. This isn't the same as him and his wife. I don't have to grieve over Cloud. He isn't dead...yet. I feel wretched for bringing it up. It really wasn't fair of me. "If you're going to go after him, you should have left already. You know he's heading back to the city."_ Oh _thank_ you Vincent for telling me that _now. "If you leave now, you might be there in time to tail him."

"Right..." I look around again in vain. "Vincent..thanks." He doesn't tell me anything else. I nodded for some reason before throwing my energy into my legs again. My skirt's in one hand as I run down the paths. With the other hand I dial Yuffie again. She doesn't pick up so I have to try again. "Come on Yuffie. Come on Yuffie!"

"Yo!"

"Yuffie!"

"That would be me."

"That's great. Cloud's heading back to the city. He's way ahead of me. Try and find him. I'll be there as soon as I can. Okay?" I pant.

"Yeah. I got ya."

"Call me if you see him?"

"Okay. You might want to run faster though. Later." Am I really that out of shape that she would know I'm pumping my legs as hard as I can?

"Yuffie-"

"Blame the dress. Bye!" The phone is silent again and I have to smile. She has a point. The dress is pretty tight but at least I'm already close to the edge of these creepy bright trees. As I pass through them I come to the very sad realization that chocobos don't exactly stick around. _Fuck. Me. _This is going to suck a lot more than I thought. My hands hit my knees as I take a deep breath and think about what I'm doing. If I do this I could hear things I never wanted to hear but if I don't I might lose him forever. _I have to do this. _I glare at the distance. _And nothing can stop me. _

_Blah blah blah. All done! Next chapter soon to show up on the...sometime this month I'm sure. It might be the last chapter. Maybe the second to last. I never thought I could finish a story. I mean... I have a quota of my FF eleven story so it'll be a long time before I finish that one. But this one just flew didn't it? Ska chan is so happy you guys like my stories! Yay!_


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own copy rights to ANYTHING! But I could if I had a million dollars. I could even buy you a green dress. But not a real green dress. That's cruel.**

_Oh yeah. I need a life. Or at least some major changes in the one I have now. Yeah that would be nice. I just want things back to normal... I hate this. Ah! I sound...emo! Gah...I gotta go now. Hey at least I have some damn good reasons to be angsty! I _should _have on eye liner! But I'm lazy..._

**Chapter Eight**

My phone goes off as I run aimlessly through the streets. Well, it's not aimless, I just don't know where I'm going. When I pick up all I can hear is panting. "The hell? Who is this?"

"Tifa? It's Yuffie!"

"Why are you breathing so hard?"

"Two reasons." She takes another deep breath. "I've been running as long as you have and I ran into Cloud."

It feels like my eye lids are peeling away from my face my eyes get so wide. "What happened? Is everything okay?"

"Oh yeah. He just kicked my ass for trying to stop him."

"He did what?"

"Well it wasn't an ass kicking in the grr roar kinda way. It was more of a please don't try to stop me I'm not scared to hurt you kind of way. And he was right. Definitely wasn't afraid."

"Well are you okay?"

"It only lasted a few seconds. I got the point to leave him be."

"Yuffie! We're trying to find him not let him waltz around the city!"

"You try fighting him! It's not fun!"

I huff. "Where's he headed?"

"The church." She pauses. "Be careful Tifa. You're both pretty fragile right now."

"Yeah..." She hangs up. I find my pocket and shove my phone in it. _This is it. _I take a few turns. The church isn't far thankfully. Just a few dirty streets down. There are still drunks in the alley ways. Some yell cat calls at me as I run by them. Others just just mumble something about something else. It's sad how many there are around here. The whole city's shit, really. But if it was clean, I don't think it would be as interesting. And I seriously doubt the church would stay up. _And then where would Cloud go? Where would his _mind _go? Eesh. _

His bike glints off of street lights. He's in there. _You can do this. Come on Tifa. You can do this. _The church is almost scary looking at it. I have no idea what time it is but it's like the church only absorbs the light around it but doesn't reflect it at all. Chunks of brick and mortar lay all around the crumbling building. It's strange how much it's falling apart in comparison to it's state a few years ago. _And now there's a giant whole in the floor. Yeah she's gonna come back to haunt me. Super. _As I walk up those decayed steps, my heart beats gets faster, it's drumming in my ears. My hands clench into fists and I admit it. I'm terrified. Taking a deep breath, I put my hands on the big rough doors. They pull away as I think. _Back door might be better._ I don't actually know if there is a back door to the church. I'm sure there is but there's also a broken window in a small room off the main hall. I hoisted my self up and slid through, trying to avoid the glass.

My boots crunch on it anyway. I cringe at the sound. Hopefully Cloud didn't hear it. It's dark in the room. I bump my way around it, searching for a door and squinting to see what might be in front of me. I feel a bed beside me and small table next to that. A few stumbling steps tells me I'm in the middle of the room and loud grind tells me I just ran into a chair. I flinched at the noise. My ears perk up at Cloud's footsteps. I scramble to where ever the door might be. I picked the wrong wall but I found the door none the less. Mostly it's because Cloud walked in carefully, a pool of dim light flooding in with him. The door stopped a hair away from my shoulder. I turned to face it, watching Cloud out of the corner of my eye. He goes to the bed, to the window. As he's looking out the window, I decide this is my chance to slip out. I can see my shadow against his body for a second. I hope he doesn't catch it. "Aerith," he whispers.

I bit my lip as I snuck into the hall. He's already heading for the door. He must have seen it. I open another door and thankfully it leads me into the actual church. I don't even stop to think about what to do now. I just stepped out of the aisle and into a black pew. And then I wait. And I wait. It sounds like my heart moved into my ears which makes it harder to listen for Cloud's boots. Things are flying through my head. Is this right? Will he realize right off the bat? Should I run now while I still have the chance? "Aerith?" Cloud calls, stepping through the door. So much for running.

"It's good to see you Cloud." I don't even remember opening my mouth.

_And that's where I'm leaving it! Even though it's short! Take that you readers! Now love me and despair! Because I suck and want to get another chapter into this! Fwaha! Besides, my ankle is killing me. I ripped a tendon in it and then decided to do kendo. Ouchy ouchy ouchy ouchy...Ska chan is stupid!_


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Just that cake. Hey man, I have rights to claim that cake. I baked it didn't I? I totally pwn it!**

_Is that even in the right context? I never understood the pwning. Why p? Was it just a simple spelling error that some just went with? How did it begin? Ya knoe, I wrote down this entire paragraph about all the possibles to the end of the story and I talked about how I've been thinking and going over all the best endings and that I've really just been winging this entire story and that you like it anyway. makes me so happy But then I went on to actually write and hit ctrl n instead of ctrl b so instead of taking of the bold setting. I blanked my page. x.x So sucky._

**Chapter Nine**

For a long time we stayed exactly where we were. I sat there in the middle of rubble and dust, my hands politely folded in my pink lap. Cloud stood in the doorway across the church, his mouth still open and his eyebrows slanting farther down and we just look at each other. His blue eyes squint to see me in the darkness of that corner. Debris crunches under Cloud's boots, covering them in chalky powder, as he stumbles forward. I've never seen him act like this on his own accord. I sit up a little straighter, my body begins to quiver in fear. I have no idea how this is going to end. Will my plan work? Will this get him out of this lapse of insanity? Or will he just realize it's Tifa and kill me on the spot? What? "It's...it's really you?" he whispers.

"Who else would it be, silly?" He shakes his head. Rubs his face.

"Every one told me I was crazy. That you couldn't have come back." I smile like Aerith would but he can't see me. "How did you do it? Are you really alive?" He pauses. "Or are you a ghost?"

I'm not sure how to answer that so I just sit there and continue to watch him. He keeps stepping closer and closer to me. There's no where I can run so I have to get that out of my head. His footsteps have this almost undead quality to them. They don't go up too much so he's shuffling his feet but because of the debris he's tripping. Not even saying a word. To watch him act like this, it's almost unbearable. I mean, I just said I have never really seen him act like this, although there were a few occasions. How is it that he can lose all control of him self and barely be able to even _walk _because a girl that died years ago? It makes me want to cry. Partly because it's heartbreaking to watch him be like this when he's never shown half this much feeling toward me and partly because it's my fault he's like this.

When he finally stops stumbling, he's standing at the edge of my pew. His sword glints with what little light there. Just keeps staring. I stand. Cloud rushes forward, banging his knee on the hard wooden bench. A tiny breath escapes me as Cloud embraces me, breathes me in, doesn't let me go. "You're real," he whispers in my ear.

"Haven't I always been real?" I tried to sound girly. It kind of worked.

"Aerith, you don't sound like you usually do." _He's skeptical? Crap in a pita._

My words fly out of my mouth, "I haven't got much time." And then my eyes squint as I try to remember why that would be my best Aerith response. I guess it was Aerith enough. Nothing to worry about. Even sounded really...girly. And it makes sense. _Why am I analyzing this so much?_

"Aerith I- I missed you," he breathes. His breath is warm on my neck. Considering the circumstances I'm thinking that shouldn't turn me on. _Nope. Definitely not. _My hands wrap around his back and I squeeze him gently.

"It's okay, Cloud."

"Aerith I..." Cloud's body tenses up. His breath quickens along with his heart. He's trying to form a word. Trying to tell her/me something.

I giggle. "What's happened to your confidence?"

His arms tighten around me for a second. "I'm forgiven?"

"I never blamed you. You were always there for me and saved me so many times. I could never blame you for what happened." My lips smile and eyes squint more. I don't understand. Did I take some kind of Speak Like Aerith crash course? Yeah, I didn't think so. "I know things have been hard, Cloud. But don't worry. I'm here for you."

"Aerith, a lot of things have changed. I've changed with them." His voice is hollowed out.

I giggle again. "But you've changed in a good way haven't you? Aren't you happy with everything?

"That's just it. Aerith...I.." And there he went again. He just can't finish the sentence.

"You're not scared are you?" I pull away from him and look at him. A soft smile appears on my lips as I say it. He shakes his head and then nods. "Why are you scared?" I laugh. My eyes widen as I suddenly sound like Tifa again. His eyes narrow down a little. _Lot of crap in a pita. "_Same old Cloud." I bring my hand up to touch his face.

He presses his cheek to my palm. Takes a deep breath. _Is this it? _"I'm in love," he whispers. My body giggles, my mind cringes. _I'm never gonna get used to it am I? But why would I giggle?_

_"_I know."

"You don't," he blurts. "I mean, you haven't been in a long time. Things have changed."

"Sounds like you've been thinking." I lean my chest forward. In the back of my head I'm wondering _Why am I doing this? My boobs are gonna pop out! _

_"_I have been. At first I just wanted to be forgiven."

"And I forgave you," I cut in.

"But the more I thought about why I wanted to be forgiven the more I realized how I really felt. Aerith I'm in love," he sighs, "with Tifa." My body stiffens. Inside and out. I can't even think. I can't think!

After a second of disbelief, I whisper, "When did you find out?"

"After I saw you in the church. It was a different feeling. When I went back to the bar, and she was there I couldn't stop myself. I just wanted to be with her. I felt free again." He paused. "After we slept together," my eyes got wide but I don't know why and they started tearing, "I knew I had to see you again. Everything felt wrong. I had to repent I guess."

_Repent? Like what? She's his mom or something? _My throat's closed up from the shock of what Cloud had just said and I still couldn't think. "I told you you had nothing to that needed to be forgiven. I know things have changed. You're not the same Cloud I remember. I never thought...you would stop loving me though. I thought I'd always be before Tifa." What am I saying? Is this really how I feel? _Why can't I concentrate? It's like I'm not even me anymore. _

Cloud looks down at our feet. "It's not that, Aerith. I still love you. It's just that I found that I love Tifa too."

My voice is almost pleading and upset as I say "But I'm here now! I'm back Cloud. Isn't that enough for you? I came back for you! You needed me!" The last bit came out as a yell. "You always made us compete for you! Sure you loved me but Tifa was always in the back of your mind. I always had to look past that. And now I'm back and she's won?" I drop down to a whisper. "You can't have us both."

Cloud puts a hand on my quivering arm. "Aerith?" My hand smacks his off me.

"I won't lose to her!" I shout. I dart past him, leaving the pew and heading for the back of the building. My foot catches on a steel rod poking out from the rubble. I snatch it up and continue running for the alter. I have to take a stand.

_Okay so it ends up I'm gonna have to write another chapter. I didn't think this would happen. Man...winging stories is the best! Ya just write what ever comes to you! But this has some depth. Man I love being me! And thanks guys again for understanding and wishing me well. My ankle is all better! I still can't go down into saza sa..zau? i got no clue how to spell that. I'm not Japanese. there's probably a u in there without having it stick out but oh well! I can still kick your ass with a bamboo stick. Right..Hold on a little longer! Ska chan out!_


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I got nothing. Not even cake. They bloody ate it on me!**

_And it was so well made...Okay! This is the last freakin' chapter! I stopped the last one where it was cause it met my quota so I had to. Fun place to leave off on huh? Maybe I should just write this and leave you hanging for a while. No..wait...if you're reading then I already posted it. Uh...I'm confusing myself. Excuse me._

**Chapter Ten**

"How could you do this to me!" I scream to Cloud. A million of my screams echo through the decrepit hall. You can barely see him, but I know he flinched. I can feel the dim moon light on me. I close my eyes for a second. Just stand there, taking deep breaths of the musty air. Cloud steps out into the center and slowly comes toward me.

"Tifa?" he whispers in shock.

I crack an eye open and look down, touching my hair. "No, Cloud. How could you call me that? It's me! It's Aerith," I pout. I sound pathetic. _Why am I doing this? He knows I've lying now! Fuck._

_"_Tifa...what are you doing?" His eyebrows meet in a face full of confusion. _Oh God. I'm so dead._

"Stop calling me that!" I shout. "Cloud please. Stop." I can feel a tear streak down my face. "You came for me. I had to come back to you. I know it's been a long time but we can still be together."

"Tifa." He says almost as if it's becoming funny to him. "Stop it."

My hand clenches around the rod. "Stop calling me by her name." I stop to think but it's so jumbled sounding in my head. I can't understand what I'm saying. Cloud continues to approach me at a cautious pace. With every step he takes, I take one back. "Cloud please don't be like this. I know we can still be happy together. Everything can be just as before. I'll even open my flower stand again."

"You couldn't. The flowers here are gone."

I look around me, taking in the destruction around me. I feel like this is the first time I've seen it like this. My heart feels like it's broken. "Things have changed," I whisper under my breath. "Cloud, I can't let you go. I just got you back. Please don't do this. Don't tell me I've lost you to that whore."

Cloud stops in his tracks. "Don't call her that. Tifa, don't say that."

I grind out, "Stop saying I'm Tifa. I don't look like her. I don't act like her. And I certainly don't dress like her." I pause. "You never defended _me _when she called me a whore. What makes her so special? What's she got that I haven't?"

"When did Tifa ever call you a whore, Aerith?"

A gentle smile plagues my lips as he calls me Aerith. "All the time lately. It's almost all she ever thinks!"

"Thinks?"

I look down again, my eyebrows rise a little seeing my cleavage. "That's right. You wouldn't know, would you?" My hand stretches one of my curls, looking at the tips. _Yuffie didn't do that to my hair. It shouldn't be- "_I'll be myself again Cloud. Please. Just wait a little longer?" I'm still stepping backward.

"Aerith, I just want Tifa."

"Cloud..no... You love me. I know you do. You always talk to me in your mind. Just admit you still love me."

"You let me go when you said I was forgiven. I have no obligation to be with you anymore," he says softly. He's getting closer. I loosen my grip on the steel rod. "I'm sorry it has to be like this."

"She can't have you. I've worked so hard to be here for you. She doesn't love you like I love you Cloud. She's doesn't know you like I know you. Cloud you were meant for me." He shakes his head. He's just a few feet from me now. I glare at him. "She _can't _have you. I won't let her. It's me. Only me," I whisper. My boot skims the ground, the rod comes behind my back. "Cloud," I say. The muscles in my body tense as I take a breath. I listen to the warped words running though my head. I can't break them. I don't know what they mean. I can't understand.

Cloud's fingers twitch. With every step they twitch a little more. He's getting ready for something. Something I can't stop. I don't have control anymore. Not even in my toes. He steps forward. His face is calm. His hands stop moving and he's only a step from me. The cool of his glove cups my cheek. I pressed into it. It makes me so happy my heart flutters. "Aerith," he whispered. I look up. "This isn't your body. Give her back."

The rod slips from my hand, clattering on the floor. Neither of us move from the noise. My arms slowly come up and wrap around Cloud. "Cloud...I'm sorry. So sorry." Warmth floods my body. I whisper, "I shouldn't have done this. This was...really stupid." I take deep breath, holding him tight. "I- I don't know what I was thinking. I just.."

Cloud whispered, "It's okay." I nod against his shoulder. Everything feels all right now. He doesn't seem, I guess you could say, obsessive anymore. I giggle. Cloud pulled away a little to see my face. "What?"

"It seems a little out of place but I couldn't help but think." I paused to get my words right. "You said you loved me."

His eyebrow spazzes and my body tenses. "I did, didn't I?" I nod slowly. His arms wrap around me, he squeezes me tight. As I hug him, I begin to feel colder. His skin on mine is almost chilling. Cloud pulls away from me, smiling. "Let's get out of here." I smile. He takes my hand and takes a step forward. I didn't move. My body still felt cold from his. I move my free hand, testing my control over it. It seems normal enough. _So why am I so cold? Why do I still feel like this? She's not in- Tifa you're being stupid again. I gotta stop reading those thrillers. "_Tifa?" I look up.

"Right. Let's go Cloud."

A gentle smile slips onto his face and I smile back. It feels so great to have him back. And although I can't explain what happened and why I acted like that, I know it's gonna be okay now. _We'll be okay. _My boot slides forward, Cloud whispers my name, I look up. I only saw the glint. I had no time to react. I just stared at Cloud, the smile still on his face. And I still smiled back. He took a step toward me and hugged me tightly, wedging the hilt of his sword into my body. Cloud put his hips into it, getting in that extra bit of strength, getting the thin metal to push through the other side of my dress. "Sorry Tifa. You can't come this time. I won't let you get between us anymore. It's your turn to join the life stream."

I could only breathe as Cloud pulled back from me. He shook his sword loose, drops of blood making mud in the dust. The hot liquid spills down my dress, soaking into it, dripping off the hem. I just stare at him. My lips part, I try and say something but I only look like a fish. Cloud shakes it once more and drops the giant blade between us. Tiny breaths come out instead of the words I'm trying to say. I stumble back to the edge of the floor, my hands to my ripped chest, everything in me spilling out. Every thing's dim but I can still see him. Still see his smile. "Cloud," I breathe.

His face changes to horror. His hand reached out. I stretch out a red hand to him and he yelled my name. I could barely hear him. He ran to me. Held me. "Tifa!" I was terrified of him. He cradled me to his chest. He's so warm compared to me. I know I'm soaking his shirt but I didn't want to move. I don't think I could have anyway. Blood's filling my mouth. My lungs. "Please," he whispers. "Stay with me. Tifa."

I try to smile and blood pour from my mouth. I let it run out for a second. "I think I'm dying."

"Don't talk. You'll be fine if you don't talk."

I shake my head. "No Cloud. I'm not gonna be okay." Blood bubbles burst as I form my words and take my final breath. "But...at least I know you loved me." A tear hits my cheek but it's not my own. I stop holding myself to wipe Cloud's cheek. "It'll be okay. Take care of the kids for me?" He nods, more tears falling on me. I can't get my hand up to wipe his cheek again. He can't get his mouth to say anything. The dust of the church settles around us. I die in a puddle of my own blood, being held by the man I loved. The man who killed me.

My body twitches and convulses as I begin to choke on myself. Cloud sits me up. "Tifa, I love you," he whispers. It's the first time he's ever told me that. I smile and try to return his words but I can't. My body's so cold now. There's nothing I can do.

I can't think anymore. Maybe there wasn't enough left in me to think with. I can hear it though. I can feel her sliding in to take my last words from me. My end is her end. I laugh while I still can in my head. _I die just like she did. Except this time she gets to be with him. I'll just go back. _"You really love me?" I gasp out. A smile breaks out on his tear streaked face.

"Yes," he cries. My hand falls to my side for a second and then Cloud stares at me like I stared at him. My eyes move down his face to his neck and down the long, metal rod still in my hand. He re-coats my hand with his own blood as he stares at me.

"I'm sorry Cloud. We just wouldn't be happy together if you only thought about her. It was the only way," I gurgle. I gasp as our ghost killer leaves my body and I have reaction again. "No.." I whisper. Cloud stares at me but he doesn't move. I pull the rod from him and his body jerks. "No," I say again.

"Tifa," he wheezes. He collapses under me and we fall to the ground. Wilted flower petals and dust fly up around us. Every thing's dark. His pale face can barely be seen now. This is it for me. This is the end. I get my hand around his back and pull myself close. Cloud doesn't move anymore. He just stares at me. I strain my body to just get a little closer. _If I could just kiss him one more time I could die happy. _Our lips almost touch. This is the end.

_So that's it. That's the end. Leave me one and tell me I'm a bad person. Check the story again later. I'll add the epologue soon._


	11. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I'm just writing an epilogue. Did I spell that right?**

_Doesn't matter. I have spell check!__So this is it. Apparently I confused at least one person. I like the way I write. I'm sorry I confused you. If it helps, I'll tell you straight out right now. I killed Cloud and Tifa by an Aerith apparition. They're bleeding out and cold. And this is the epilogue. On to it then! Go!_

**Epilogue**

The wood flew into a broken pew as Barret kicked it. Taking a deep breath, his face scrunched in disdain. "Every time we come here it looks worse. What's so great about this old church anyway?" Yuffie patted his thick arm, walking past him down the aisle. "Should the kids really be here?"

"They have to learn these things some time in their lives if you expect them to be like us," Vincent answered, already taking a seat in the front row. Yuffie looked back, nodding.

"No way. Marlene's never gonna have to fight. I'll always take care of her," He grunted. He turned to children. They stopped and waited. "Just- just stay back here for a minute okay? I don't want you two gettin' traumatized or nothin'." Marlene nodded vigorously, already finding something else to look at. Barret quicken his pace, catching up with the others. His steps became slower as he approached the scene. Yuffie was bent over Tifa, curiously feeling the coldness of her body. She grabbed Cloud's face in her small hands and squinted her eyes.

"It's so gross. They've been dead for a while now. They're cold."

Vincent called out, "It hasn't been that long. An hour maybe." The predawn light filtered in through broken stain glass. Tifa hadn't picked up any of the phone calls Yuffie and Barret had sent. Vincent found them in Tifa's bar and relayed what had happened to them. He hadn't answered Yuffie's question of how he knew they were still there. "Barret, pull the pole out of Cloud before the children see." He gestured to the back. Barret looked over his shoulder at Marlene and Denzel slowly making their way to the front of the building, watching the dust clouds they made.

He nodded, stepping up to the bodies. He enveloped Cloud's thin shoulder in his palm and Yuffie put her hand on his. "Don't move them from where they are. It's very important."

"What?" Yuffie glared at him and he sighed. "Fine." Replacing his hand on Cloud's head, Barret gripped the caked metal. "This is nasty," he complained, slowly prying the rod out. The end stuck in Cloud's throat. Barret's eyes wandered away from his friend's body as he put a little more muscle into it. It ripped out, making a subtle pucking noise. He grimaced. "We do have the stuff right?" He looked up at Yuffie.

She smiled down at him. "Back away and leave it to me!" Barret took a seat across the aisle from Vincent, motioning for the kids to come join him. They rushed forward with smiles. As they drew closer their happy expressions melted away, the image of Cloud and Tifa's motionless bodies becoming clearer.

Marlene looked up at Barret, an upset pout on her face. "Why did you bring us here? You said we were going to see Cloud and Tifa!" Barret opened his mouth. "What happened? Why would you show this to us!"

Barret's mouth gaped like a fish as he searched for words. "Marlene it's uh..It's important.."

"Marlene," Yuffie called, coming to the children. "This is something you have to see now so you can understand life much better."

"But I do understand."

"You shouldn't have brought us here. Tifa would never do this," Denzel snapped out.

Barret yelled, "Hey you two! Get over here before I beat you up!"

"I could probably beat you up first!" Denzel retorted. "Cloud taught me how." Barret raised his brow. Denzel and Marlene rushed to his side, Denzel still mumbling about beating him up. The air grew still as they sat and waited. Marlene looked from Barret to Yuffie to Vincent. Denzel rubbed his eye. "Well?"

With a sweet smile, Yuffie whispered, "He's gonna be just like Cloud some day. Okay!" Her voice echoed in hall. She grinned. "Get ready to see something cool, kids." Denzel sat up a little straighter. "Here we go." She hop-skipped to the bodies, pulling a feather from her pocket. Waving it at the children, she dropped it between Tifa and Cloud. Yuffie took a step back.

After a second, Marlene asked, "What was that supposed to do? Is this some kind of weird funeral?"

"Just wait," Barret told her. She nodded, swinging her feet. Marlene looked down as her dress rippled. Her bangs whipped in front of her eyes, her body began to push forward. "Barret?" His meaty hand grabbed onto hers and Denzel's shoulder, keeping them from falling off. Yuffie ran for a pew. "What's happening!" she cried out. A burst of light surrounded the bodies on the floor, a fiery outline coming to life. With a loud piercing cry, the outline picked itself up, flapping wings and shaking itself out. Marlene clung to Barret's side. The thing cried out again, rapidly growing feathers across its nonexistent body. The thing made a short hop, going over Tifa and Cloud, before leaping off of the floor entirely, heading for wall across from it. "It's gonna-" She and Denzel slammed their hands over their ears as the creature hit the wall on the other side. Marlene looked up and gasped.

Denzel yelped, "Where'd it go?" Yuffie smiled again. "Hey! What happened!"

"This is the weirdest funeral I've ever heard of," Marlene whispered to Barret. He grinned, ruffling her hair.

"This isn't a funeral," Vincent said.

Yuffie laughed out, "It's a wake!"

Marlene looked at them. "I don't understand." Yuffie took a seat beside Vincent, crossing her legs and humming to herself. "Where did that thing come from? Barret, what happened?" Denzel hopped down from the pew and looked at the adults. Taking a step forward, he looked at them again as if to say, "Try and stop me." When they did nothing, he went to Tifa. "Denzel, don't," Marlene called. He glanced over his shoulder at Marlene and shrugged.

His hand brushed away her bangs and he looked at her. "Why did she die?" he whispered. His shoulders slumped, his body growing smaller as he thought. "Why does this always happen to me?" A tear hit Tifa's arm and he wiped it away. "They always leave me behind.."

"Oh Denzel..."

He looked at Tifa with wide eyes. Whipping his head around to Yuffie, he squeaked, "Did she just say that?" Marlene gripped Barret's shirt, staring in shock. Her tiny finger pointed to past Denzel. He turned slowly, his eyes widening all the while. His arms rose up in defense. They got half way up his torso when he fell on his back, Tifa's blood caked body on him. "What the hell! Get it off me! get it off! Zombie!" he screamed. "Don't eat me please!" He flailed his arms wildly.

"Ow. Ow! Okay stop!" Tifa laughed. "Hey! Denzel stop all ready! I'm not gonna eat you!" He stopped to look at her. She convulsed and rolled off of him.

"Momma?" Her body jerked again. Her hands hit the ground, holding her up as she wretched. "Oh my God she's dying again! Barret do something!" When no one stirred, he screamed, "She's dying!" Tifa hacked, black liquid spewing from her mouth. Chunks and gobs of the mess fell from her lips. "What's happening!"

"It's okay," Cloud croaked. "She's regenerating."

"Cloud's alive too?"

"Cloud!" Marlene called happily. His hand hovered above the ground in a pathetic attempt at a wave. "What do you mean she's regenerating?"

"When a person dies of something, such a sword or a bullet, under the right conditions, they can return to life by means of a phoenix down or a phoenix pinion. What you saw earlier came from the feather Yuffie dropped between them. It summoned a life giving phoenix to bring them back."

"That was a phoenix? I thought they weren't real."

Barret ruffled her hair again. She glared and straightened it again. "That's why we brought you here. You two'll start your training soon."

"The sooner you understand life and death, the sooner you start," Yuffie smiled. "You have to understand what you do when you take a life."

"I do though."

"But Denzel doesn't," Tifa called. She ran her hand over her mouth and looked over at Cloud. A hardened chunk of flesh and blood sat in front of his mouth, a pool of blacked blood draining from the corner of his lips. He sucked everything out everything left and spat it onto the chunk.

"That's disgusting," Marlene said quietly. Cloud sat up and coughed. "He's okay now right?" Cloud nodded. "So why is Tifa is still coughing up all that stuff?"

Between coughs, Tifa said, "I got hurt really bad and it's going to take longer to get all of it out of me. I'm almost done though." Marlene nodded. Denzel walked on his knees to Cloud. He examined Cloud's pale neck. With a smile, Cloud shooed him away before pulling off his boots. His body slid into the cold pool behind him and he waited.

"I think," Yuffie giggled, "it's time for us to go." She stood and came to Denzel. Pulling him up, she said, "We'll see you later, okay?" Denzel opened his mouth to speak and she put a hand over it. "We're going." Marlene and Barret started for the door, Vincent already on the steps outside. She hauled Denzel away.

With a final cough, Tifa looked over at Cloud. His hands floated palm up in the dark water. "Is it really you this time?" she asked. He nodded. "Good." Taking a deep breath, she slid into the water with him. Goosebumps ran over her skin and she smiled at Cloud. "I killed you."

"I killed you too," he whispered. Her hands met his and Cloud pulled her closer. He turned her around and pulled the ribbon and hair tie from her hair. Tifa shook out her dark hair and looked at the tips. Her eyebrows went down as she studied the light brown ends. "You'll have to dye it. I don't want you without the dark hair." Tifa exhaled, happy to hear Cloud's words again. She turned and hugged him tightly.

"Everything okay now?" she whispered.

"No." She pulled away from Cloud, her body hardening. He leaned forward, whispering in her ear, "We have to get you out of those clothes and then everything will be okay." She laughed as he grabbed her sides and pulled her close again. "I love Tifa remember?" Tifa nodded, feeling tears streak down her face. Cloud's hands slid under the cut in Tifa's dress, ripping it farther down. "And Tifa?" he whispered, undoing her ties and straps.

"Yeah?" she breathed.

"No more pink."

_Oh and that's the absolute total and completely finished end! Take that you shalaaby! With your arms so silky clean. Lol I love the fish Master. So leave me one. I hope you liked the end. I was gonna go with something else but this seemed good. I think I'm gonna make a new one about Denzel and Marlene...eventually. Bye guys! Thanks for reading all of this and liking it! you _did_ like it yeah? Ska-chan says goodbye to her first finished story and all of its fans. _


	12. The End

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I'm just writing an epilogue. Did I spell that right?**

_Doesn't matter. I have spell check!__So this is it. I changed practically nothing until the end. It's different and it's the one I'm gonna stick to. The other one is for all of us happy go lucky fools. And oh yes. We are fools. You better like this ending dammit! Or I'll kill you! Bam! Dead!_

**The End.**

The wood flew into a broken pew as Barret kicked it. Taking a deep breath, his face scrunched in disdain. "Every time we come here it looks worse. What's so great about this old church anyway?" Yuffie patted his thick arm, walking past him down the aisle. "Should the kids really be here?"

"They have to learn these things some time in their lives if you expect them to be like us," Vincent answered, already taking a seat in the front row. Yuffie looked back, nodding.

"No way. Marlene's never gonna have to fight. I'll always take care of her," He grunted. He turned to children. They stopped and waited. "Just- just stay back here for a minute okay? I don't want you two gettin' traumatized or nothin'." Marlene nodded vigorously, already finding something else to look at. Barret quicken his pace, catching up with the others. His steps became slower as he approached the scene. Yuffie was bent over Tifa, curiously feeling the coldness of her body. She grabbed Cloud's face in her small hands and squinted her eyes.

"It's so gross. They've been dead for a while now. They're cold."

Vincent called out, "It hasn't been that long. An hour maybe." The predawn light filtered in through broken stain glass. Tifa hadn't picked up any of the phone calls Yuffie and Barret had sent. Vincent found them in Tifa's bar and relayed what had happened to them. He hadn't answered Yuffie's question of how he knew they were still there. "Barret, pull the pole out of Cloud before the children see." He gestured to the back. Barret looked over his shoulder at Marlene and Denzel slowly making their way to the front of the building, giggling over the dust clouds they made.

He nodded, stepping up to the bodies. He enveloped Cloud's thin shoulder in his palm and Yuffie put her hand on his. "Don't move them from where they are. It's very important."

"What?" Yuffie glared at him and he sighed. "Fine." Replacing his hand on Cloud's head, Barret gripped the caked metal. "This is nasty," he complained, slowly prying the rod out. The end stuck in Cloud's throat. Barret's eyes wandered away from his friend's body as he put a little more muscle into it. It ripped out, making a subtle pucking noise. He grimaced. "We do have the stuff right?" He looked up at Yuffie.

She smiled down at him. "Back away and leave it to me!" Barret took a seat across the aisle from Vincent, motioning for the kids to come join him. They rushed forward with smiles. As they drew closer their happy expressions melted away, the image of Cloud and Tifa's motionless bodies becoming clearer.

Marlene looked up at Barret, an upset pout on her face. "Why did you bring us here? You said we were going to see Cloud and Tifa!" Barret opened his mouth. "What happened? Why would you show this to us!"

Barret's mouth gaped like a fish as he searched for words. "Marlene it's uh..It's important.."

"Marlene," Yuffie called, coming to the children. "This is something you have to see now so you can understand life much better later."

"But I do understand."

"You shouldn't have brought us here. Tifa would never do this," Denzel snapped out.

Barret yelled, "Hey you two! Get over here before I beat you up!"

"I could probably beat you up first!" Denzel retorted. "Cloud taught me how." Barret raised his brow. Denzel and Marlene rushed to his side, Denzel still mumbling about beating him up. The air grew still as they sat and waited. Marlene looked from Barret to Yuffie to Vincent. Denzel rubbed his eye. "Well?"

With a sweet smile, Yuffie whispered, "He's gonna be just like Cloud some day. Okay!" Her voice echoed in hall. She grinned. "Get ready to see something cool, kids." Denzel sat up a little straighter. "Here we go." She hop-skipped to the bodies, pulling a feather from her pocket. Waving it at the children, she dropped it between Tifa and Cloud. Yuffie took a step back.

After a second, Marlene asked, "What was that supposed to do? Is this some kind of weird funeral?"

"Just wait," Barret told her. She nodded, swinging her feet. Marlene looked down as her dress rippled. Her bangs whipped in front of her eyes, her body began to push forward. "Barret?" His meaty hand grabbed onto hers and Denzel's shoulder, keeping them from falling off. Yuffie ran for a pew. "What's happening!" she cried out. A burst of light surrounded the bodies on the floor, a fiery outline coming to life. With a loud piercing cry, the outline picked itself up, flapping wings and shaking itself out. Marlene clung to Barret's side. The thing cried out again, rapidly growing feathers across its nonexistent body. It made a short hop, going over Tifa and Cloud, before leaping off of the floor entirely, heading for wall across from it. "It's gonna-" She and Denzel slammed their hands over their eyes as the creature hit the wall on the other side. Marlene looked up and gasped.

Denzel yelped, "Where'd it go?" Yuffie smiled again. "Hey! What happened!"

"When a person dies of something, such a sword or a bullet, under the right conditions, they can return to life by means of a phoenix down or a phoenix pinion. What you saw earlier came from the feather Yuffie dropped between them. It summoned a life giving phoenix to bring them back," Vincent informed.

Marlene's brows slowly came up. "That was a phoenix? I thought they weren't real."

Barret ruffled her hair. She glared and straightened it. "That's why we brought you here. You two'll start your training soon."

"The sooner you understand life and death, the sooner you start," Yuffie smiled. "You have to understand what you do when you take a life and its consequences and effects and all that stuff."

"I do though."

"But Denzel doesn't," Yuffie replied.

Marlene looked at them. "I don't understand." Yuffie took a seat beside Vincent, crossing her legs and humming to herself. "How did that big thing come from a feather?" Denzel hopped down from the pew and looked at the adults. Taking a step forward, he looked at them again as if to say, "Try and stop me." When they did nothing, he went to Tifa. "Denzel, don't," Marlene called. He glanced over his shoulder at Marlene and shrugged.

"Why aren't they getting up?" Yuffie whispered to Vincent.

"Perhaps...Perhaps they do not want come back. Maybe they are happy together in death knowing nothing can part them now."

"You have a choice?"

Vincent nodded. "If your will is strong enough, you don't come back." His thin hand pointed to Denzel. Yuffie returned her gaze to him.

His hand brushed away Tifa's bangs and he looked at her. "Why did she die?" he whispered. His shoulders slumped, his body growing smaller as he thought. "Why does this always happen to me?" A tear hit Tifa's arm and he wiped it away. "They always leave me behind.."

"Oh Denzel..."Marlene breathed. His hands dropped by his side, his knuckles scraping the hard floor. Taking a deep breath, Denzel's body wretched. Marlene slid off the pew. Barret put a hand on her shoulder again as she stepped toward Denzel. She looked up at him and Barret shook his head.

"He has to get this out now or he'll never be okay." Marlene blinked away a tear as she watched her friend give in to his feelings. Denzel's body grew even small as he cried out to the heavens. A fist beat the ground next to Cloud and he sobbed. His body crumbled between his dead guardians. Echoing sobs ringing her ears.

"He'll never be okay again," Marlene lipped.

_Okay THAT'S the end! Take that you shalaaby! With your arms so silky clean. Lol I love the fish Master. So leave me one. I hope you liked the end. I changed it for all the rest of you sad loving people. And I'm definately gonna make a new one about Denzel and Marlene...eventually. Bye guys! Thanks for reading all of this and liking it! you _did_ like it yeah? Ska-chan says goodbye to her first finished story and all of its fans...again..._


End file.
